How can I learn to take the nap question day by day? Dd is almost 3 1/2, and still SO needs her nap, but she's usually up after 5 pm if she has one, and then takes FOREVER to go to sleep. It is almost impossible to make any plans for late afternoon, because I may or may not be tied to my house. Also, I'm having to start to pay Serious attention to dd#2 nap (20 months) otherwise she's up all night. I want a SCHEDULE that stays consistent. I know, that's unrealistic. Mostly, I just want to know if anyone had a successful phasing out of naps, or if it was as sporadic for everyone else as it is for us.

I always napped alongside my kids. Both outgrew the need to nap at about 3.5 yo, by not falling asleep during the time we were lying down together. So I offered books and told them they could either sleep or quietly read. Sometimes they would read themselves to sleep, but usually not. Now at ages 4 (almost) and 6, we still have what we call "resting time" where we all lie down and read for an hour. (But I am the only one who often falls asleep!) On days when we are out in the afternoon, we skip "resting" and they are excited because they think they are getting away with something! But we always go back to it the next day, and often, even after I tell them an hour is up, they continue to read for quite a while!

Oh, and I forgot to mention, that having that hour of quiet time makes all the difference in their evening behavior. They end up quite refreshed, and go to bed on time (usually).

My older two sons had to be forced to give up naps when they started kindergarten at age 5.5 - even with consistent, reasonable bedtimes they just really needed that extra break in the day. Possibly because they are so active. #3 is now 4.5 and naps most days but I don't sweat it if we are busy and he misses one - just needs an early bedtime. Naps are generally about 2 hours...I wake him up if he sleeps longer. I think it is important to respect each childs need for sleep.